Carnegie Hall

• Learn the steps for the samba in the teaching video above.
• Once students have learned the steps for the samba, use the “Requebra” audio track to dance the samba.

In this activity your students will create their own dance, including “instructions” in the lyrics just as they are included in the lyrics of “Requebra.”

• Review the lyrics, noting that “requebra” means to swing or wiggle. Notice how the song practically commands people to get up and dance!
• Note that, at the end of the song, the instructions get more specific, instructing people to move down (“embaixo”) and up (“em cima”).
• Using the “Requebra” audio track, ask your students to follow the instructions as they dance along to the song, swinging and wiggling each time Fabiana sings the word “requebra,” and going up and down when directed in the last verse.
• Using the “Requebra” audio track, stand in a circle, and ask for a volunteer to lead from the center. The leader will call out and demonstrate different movements (jump, hop, wave your arms, etc.) in place of “requebra.” The rest of the students will follow the lead. When they get to “embaixo” and “em cima,” they can choose to go in different directions.

Carnival in Brazil is a national party—a six-day festival leading up to the start of Lent, a solemn season in the Catholic church. There are massive parades through the streets with music, dance, costumes and revelry; percussion bands can number in the hundreds of players! Community groups and samba schools spend the entire year preparing—writing songs, creating dances, rehearsing, making costumes, and building floats. Each city or region has its own customs and traditions for Carnival, from Bahia, where Afro-Brazilian roots predominate, to Rio de Janeiro, where the Portuguese influence is stronger.

Image Credits

“Allegorical float of the samba school Inocentes de Belford Rocho” by imageBROKER.